


Lost Every Minute

by Eustacia Vye (eustaciavye)



Category: Harry Potter - Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-09-02
Updated: 2005-09-02
Packaged: 2017-10-07 00:08:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/59217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eustaciavye/pseuds/Eustacia%20Vye
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the middle of a war, you have to choose your allies very carefully.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lost Every Minute

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Jawy](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Jawy).



> Written for LJ user jawy as part of the community "dgficexchange." She requested angst, but a happy ending, and Post-Hogwarts.

There comes a time in every girl’s life when she has to admit defeat. Ginny had effectively given up on Harry Potter in her fourth year. Of course that meant he would conveniently notice, date, and then dump her in the span of a few weeks. It was downright insulting and sad. The only bright spot out of the whole fiasco had been finding out that her fantasy hero was not the real Harry Potter. He was altogether too distracted to be a good boyfriend and hadn’t seemed even interested in her past the physical. Ginny was glad she found out fairly early. How terrible would it have been if she had continued in her hopeless crush?

Ginny sighed and looked at her watch for the tenth time in three minutes. The Order had received word that there was a Death Eater that had sent feelers out to be a spy. No one else had been available to meet the spy but Ginny, and Professor Minerva McGonagall had said it was past time for Ginny to participate. Having finished the Auror program, Ginny should have been more fully integrated into meetings and assaults than she had been. So as much as Molly Weasley had protested, Ginny had gone ahead to the meeting place.

And their potential spy was late.

Ginny wondered for a moment if her disguise was a little _too_ good. Perhaps their contact didn’t recognize who was going to be at the meeting place.

She was grabbed from behind, a hand over her mouth and one arm wrapped firmly around her torso. As much as she tried to struggle, Ginny was pinioned tightly in place.

“Phoenix feather,” a voice hissed in her ear.

Ginny stilled. The voice sounded familiar, though she couldn’t place it right away. The hand moved from her mouth, though the one against her ribs remained in place. She couldn’t turn and see who it was. The arm shook her slightly. _“Phoenix feather!”_ he repeated forcefully. Ginny could hear the fear in his voice.

“Jabberknoll feather,” Ginny replied softly.

The arm at her torso eased slightly, then the other hand moved the hair away from her left ear. “Hang on,” he said softly, his breath tickling. A shiver ran down Ginny’s spine.

Then he activated a portkey, and they disappeared from view.

Ginny fell forward, tumbling from her contact’s loose arms. She pushed herself to her feet and then looked up into the impassive face of Draco Malfoy.

***

  
“We should have told her,” Hermione said to Ron and Harry. “She should have known.”

_“We_ didn’t know until after we let her go.”

Ron eyed Harry. “Stop being so reasonable, mate. It’s _Malfoy._ He’s bad blood.”

Harry shook his head at Ron. “I told you about the attack at the end of sixth year, and how he was with Moaning Myrtle. He’s changed from when we started school... I think it’s not what he was led to believe.”

“I thought you wanted to keep her safe,” Ron accused. “How is this keeping her safe?”

Harry rolled his eyes. “I didn’t know about this, Ron. And she’s stubborn enough to go and do it anyway, you know that.” Ron scowled, but Harry continued on. “We may need this information. And he wouldn’t dare hurt her. He wants our help to get away from the Death Eaters.”

Hermione consulted the coin charm dangling from her charm bracelet. “She hasn’t gotten in trouble yet. She’ll call us, so we’ll know what we need to do is plan an escape for Malfoy that won’t compromise him if he does agree to be our spy.”

Ron scowled at Hermione, but remained silent.

“She’ll be okay, Ron,” Harry insisted.

“If she isn’t, I’ll rip Malfoy’s heart out,” Ron said, his voice eerily calm. Hermione and Harry exchanged worried glances as Ron left for the kitchen. Everyone was going to have to tread very carefully around him.

***

  
“You didn’t know it was me, did you?”

Ginny shook her head and allowed Draco to help her up. “I don’t know if all of the Order members know. They didn’t tell me, at least.”

Draco watched Ginny look around the room with suspicion. He supposed it was a natural reaction, and remained impassive.

The room had bare walls, no windows, and a single door bolted from the inside. There was a double bed and a battered dresser along one wall. Ginny had no idea where she was, and looked at Draco. “Where are we?”

“Somewhere safe,” Draco said. He was in arm’s reach, but made no move to close the gap. “Do you think I’d hurt you?”

“The thought crossed my mind,” Ginny replied tartly. “This wasn’t part of the deal.”

“How much of this do you know?”

Ginny eyed him warily. “I didn’t know it was you.”

“Obviously,” Draco replied dryly. “I mean with the deal. What’s in it?”

“Professor McGonagall should be the one to talk to you.”

Draco closed the gap in an instant, hands tight on her arms. “They talk after hours. I know that, there’s always something else happening. That’s just the way it is. So what have they said about me? What are they really planning?”

Ginny suddenly realized that Draco didn’t have faith in the Order because he must have been double crossed by the Death Eaters. “We’re not like that. Professor McGonagall is honest.”

“No... Not for someone like me. She’s never liked me, never wanted me around.”

“You have to trust us,” Ginny insisted. “We’ll take care of you. We’ll hide you from the Death Eaters. I promise.”

His eyes bored into hers. “Do you? Why would you help me? I’ve killed, Weasley. I’ve had to _kill,_ I would’ve killed you if I didn’t need you so much.” His face was an inch away from hers. “I still could, you know. No one would know, and no one would ever find you.”

Ginny shivered, but held his gaze. “I know.”

“You should run from me. You should fight me.”

“You need our help. You want out, but you can’t do it alone.” Ginny’s lips quirked. “You need us, Malfoy.”

His lip curled. “And you need me. I know what they’re doing. I can help you reduce your losses.”

“So we need each other. You can’t kill me.”

Draco shoved her backward, toward the bed. “You have no idea. You don’t know what it’s like.” He advanced on her, hands fisted at his sides. Ginny’s eyes were as wide as saucers, and she lay sprawled across the bed.

He pounced, pinning her down. “Scared yet, Weasley? You should be. You have no idea what I’m capable of. No idea.”

Ginny lifted her leg slightly, pressing it firmly between his legs. “Don’t be so sure I’m helpless, Malfoy,” she said with a grin.

He pressed his body flush against hers. “I’m dangerous. They shouldn’t have sent you after me.”

Her hands were flat against his chest. She made no effort to push him away. “You keep saying it, but I don’t think even you believe it. You want to think that you’re dangerous, that I should be afraid of you. But I don’t fear you.”

“I don’t need pity,” Draco snarled.

Ginny shook her head. “I don’t pity you.” She moved one hand to touch his chin almost tenderly, startling him. “I always knew what they were like.”

“You don’t know what it’s like. You have no idea.”

“Somehow, I think you never realized just how bad it could be.” Draco’s lip curled in distaste, and his mouth opened to speak. “That’s not pity, Draco. It’s the truth, and I think you just didn’t know what the truth was.”

His face registered shock for a split second before smoothing out into impassiveness again. “You don’t know what you’re talking about, Weasley.”

“Of course I do. Anyone that would sacrifice children to further their own ends isn’t someone that would think twice about lying.”

Draco actually flinched, and turned his face away from her. “You shouldn’t be so understanding.”

“We’re trying to help you.”

He turned back to her, eyes hard. “I shouldn’t need the help of Mudblood lovers.”

Ginny’s hand tightened around Draco’s pointed chin. “But you do. So it’s time to realize that you _need_ our help, you _can’t_ do it all on your own. You’re not able to do what they want of you, so you have no right to look down on us. We’re fighting for what we believe in, just like you are. That doesn’t make us any better or worse than you.”

Draco’s jaw worked as he tried to think of something witty to say. After a moment, instead of speaking, he leaned down and kissed her full on the mouth. Shocked, Ginny didn’t think of pushing his face away. He deepened the kiss as her hand loosened from his chin and moved to cup the side of his cheek. Propped up by his left arm, Draco used his right arm to begin touching her. He was surprisingly gentle, and he seemed to tremble slightly as he brought his hand over her breast. Ginny moved to wrap her arms around him as he broke their kiss.

“You should tell me to stop,” he whispered into her ear.

“What if I don’t want you to?” she asked recklessly.

He kissed her again, desperately, as if it was the first time he had ever been truly accepted. Having never received such a passionate response before, Ginny responded enthusiastically.

“You should make me stop,” Draco said, pushing himself up. He was hovering over her, hands on either side of her head. Ginny pushed up the sleeve to his left arm and saw the angry-looking Dark Mark on his forearm. “Don’t look at it.”

Ginny leaned in and licked the mark gently. “I’m not afraid of it, Draco. I once knew Tom as well as anyone. I know what he’s capable of. I know what he would make his followers do. I know what you’ve gotten yourself into, and I’m not afraid.”

Draco collapsed down on top of her and held her close, almost desperately. “I don’t know what I’m going to do,” he whispered into his ear. “It wasn’t supposed to be this way.... I didn’t know... It wasn’t supposed to be like this.”

Ginny cradled him close, rubbing his back soothingly. “You’ll be all right, Draco,” she crooned into his ear. “We’ll make it all right.”

“Help me, Weasley,” he sobbed. Ginny could feel the hot tears begin to fall against her neck. “I don’t know what to do.”

“Sh.... Trust me. I know what to do.”

 

***

  
Ron paced furiously. Every moment lost was slowly driving him out of his mind. He was imagining tortures or sprung traps set around Ginny. “If he hurts her, I’ll kill him.”

After twenty minutes of it, Hermione surreptitiously brought Molly Weasley into the Black sitting room. Seeing Ron so tense, Molly immediately brought him into the kitchen for a liberal amount of tea spiked with Pepper-Up Potion. Harry breathed an obvious sign of relief once Molly took care of Ron.

“Do you think he would do anything? He’s never particularly liked the Weasleys,” Hermione said, looking toward the front door uncertainly.

“I don’t know. But he didn’t do anything when he had the chance at school, and we never saw him out in the field. He might honestly want out.”

The sound of the front door opening cut off Hermione’s reply. She stood up sharply, and Harry turned around to face the door, wand in hand. He saw that Ginny was leading Draco into the house, pulling him along by the hand. “Mind the step,” Ginny said as she entered the house. Soon it was apparent why; Draco was blindfolded.

Once Ginny shut the door, she removed the blindfold. Draco blinked to readjust his eyes, and looked around. He took in his surroundings, but didn’t say a word. He looked Harry in the eyes and didn’t even look at Hermione. “I need to speak with Professor McGonagall.”

“She’s not here right now. She sent an owl ten minutes ago saying she got delayed,” Harry replied. “We are to act as her representatives until she arrives.”

“No deal. She’s the one in charge of the plan, so she has to negotiate terms.” He looked at Ginny without turning his head more than an inch. “You can stay.”

She lifted an eyebrow at him. “I should hope so,” Ginny replied, moving into the sitting room.

Draco followed and sat down across from her. He studiously avoided looking at Hermione or Harry. He ignored their incredulous stares, keeping his eyes fixated on a point just past Ginny’s head. He could see a faint halo of fiery red hair in his peripheral vision, and willed himself silent and steady. _Just like a Death Eater meeting. That’s all. Everyone staring, looking for a weakness... No different yet, not at all._

Everyone sat in silence for twenty minutes, until Minerva McGonagall returned to the Black house. She was startled by the tableau in front of her. “What’s this? I thought you would have started without me.”

Everyone rose at once, but Draco’s eyes were fixated on McGonagall now. She suddenly didn’t seem as severe and heartless as she had during Transfigurations lessons. “I wanted to talk to you directly. Ginny thinks you’re trustworthy, and I think she’s trustworthy.”

McGonagall smiled at him. “Why thank you, Draco. I’m glad I sent her, then.” She looked over at Harry and Hermione, who were bristling with unease, hurt and confusion. “I supposed you wanted to talk to me alone?”

“I’d prefer it,” Draco said, voice even. “If you don’t mind.”

“Not at all. There’s a parlor that can be locked and silenced appropriately. Follow me.”

Ginny sat back down in the armchair as Draco stepped forward. He turned to look at her, eyes wide. “Aren’t you coming with me?”

“I’m not needed for negotiations. They’re your terms.”

Draco forced his near-panic down into the hidden recesses of himself. “All right then.”

“I’ll be here when you’re done. I won’t move,” Ginny promised. “But for now, I’d only get in the way of what you really need to talk about.”

He nodded briskly, and gave her a slight curve of his lips. “All right then.”

McGonagall looked at him with some amusement. “I’m sure we can come to an agreement that would satisfy us both, Mr. Malfoy. I certainly wouldn’t want you to feel disadvantaged in the situation, since you did place yourself in some danger to get here.”

Draco nodded at her. “After you, Professor.”

Harry and Hermione watched the two of them leave, then as one turned to Ginny. She seemed entirely too calm, and smiled serenely at them. “What happened between you two?” Harry asked after a moment. “I almost thought you were lost!”

She smiled sweetly. “I never get lost. I may take a more circuitous path, but I can always find my way home. I just had to help Draco find his.”

Hermione looked at Ginny intently. “He didn’t hurt you, did he?”

Ginny snorted. “Of course not. Why? Was Ron going nutters over that?”

“Well... yes,” Hermione admitted uncomfortably.

“He won’t hurt me. We’ve come to an understanding. He trusts me, and he trusts that we’ll try to do right by him.”

Harry sat back down in his chair heavily. “Do you trust him, Gin? Can we trust him?”

“I think we can.” Ginny looked at him seriously. “He didn’t know what he was getting himself into, and got disillusioned. He doesn’t know what’s right anymore, only that he wants to keep his family safe.”

Hermione nodded briskly. “All right, then. I’ll tell Ron and Mrs. Weasley that you’re back. They were worried about you.”

“I was fine. I was never in any danger.”

“Not to hear Ron tell it,” Hermione replied, amused. “He’ll be glad to know you’re okay.”

Harry waited until Ginny was out of the room. “Are you really?”

“Yes. I’m fine, Harry. He didn’t do anything bad, didn’t try to kill me or anything.”

He ran a hand through his messy hair as he sighed. “I guess... I want this to be over. I want this to work out well. But I just... I don’t know. I don’t know how this will all end.” He looked at Ginny pleadingly. “You’ll come to me, won’t you? If anything goes wrong?”

Ginny got up and gave Harry a swift hug. “I’ll be all right. You don’t need to worry about me anymore, Harry. Things have worked out for the best.”

“They have?”

“You have to worry about the rest of the world, not just one person. And now I know what it’s like to have your childhood fantasy. I’ve always hoped it would happen.”

“And?”

She smiled a little wistfully. “Not what I thought it would be. But just the same, I can at least say that for a little while, I almost had everything I wanted.”

Harry wrinkled his nose. “Was I that horrible to you?”

Ginny laughed. “No. But I’m not a little girl anymore, and real life is never like the fantasy. And you’re much too different from what I really want.”

Harry seemed almost sad. “I’m sorry, Ginny. I hoped it would work out better between us.”

“I’ll be fine. Better to know now than later.”

“Make sure the next one is everything you want, okay?” Harry gave her a hug that made Ginny almost feel sorry for him.

She watched him walk out of the door toward the kitchen. “I already have,” she whispered softly. Only the sitting room walls heard her.

 

***

  
Draco found Ginny sitting in the same chair, dozing against the backrest. He smiled, and walked up to her. He touched her cheek gently, and watched her come awake. She smiled hazily up at him. “So you’re done?”

“I’ll stay here tonight, then it all begins.”

She caught his hand against her cheek and leaned into his touch. “Good luck, Draco.”

“As long as I have you,” he said softly. She looked up at him, almost startled. “You’re the only one I really trust in all this that knows. That makes it easier.”

Ginny smiled at him. “Silly. Let’s go into the backyard. There’s a bench out there in a corner, and Ron hates it out there. We can talk a bit more.”

Draco relaxed. “I’d like that.”

She stood up, then gave him a soft kiss on the lips. “Come on. We’ve got the rest of the night to play with.”

“Thank you,” Draco murmured as Ginny began to move past him.

She smiled gently at him, then kissed his lips again. “Anytime. Now come on. I want to show you the roses I got to bloom in my corner of the backyard. I haven’t shown anyone yet.”

“And you’re going to show me?”

“I think you’re worth sharing my things with.” Her lips quirked. “And that’s rare. I’m the only girl in my family, so I never did learn to share very well.”

Draco found himself grinning at her. “I never did, either.”

“Think we could learn to share each other?”

“Never.” He wrapped his arms tightly around her. “I think I’ll be selfish and keep you.”

“Only if I can be selfish right back and keep you, too.”

“Deal. Now let’s go see your flowers.”

With a grin, Ginny led Draco into the backyard. _It was going to be a wonderful evening,_ Ginny thought. _And maybe the start of something wonderful._

So far, Draco was everything that Ginny ever wanted. And if she had pressed him to answer, he would have admitted the same thing.

 

End.


End file.
